ENDS

BONUS CHAPTER

This is a snippet to book four of this series...

enjoyyyyy....

"And the winner, of The Girl Child Representative Award goes to..."

There was a silent and lengthy pause pregnant with anticipation, everyone knew the name they would call next... it's the same name they had been calling for the past fifteen years.

So, it wasn't a matter of 'who was gonna win it', it was a matter of 'why they were taking so long to call her name'.

She watched her mother straighten her back as she sat like a rod of elegance had been fixated in her spine followed by her routinely patting down of her dress even though it was as smooth as a wooden table that had been finished with lacquer.

It was obvious that her mother was going to win the award yet again, among every other competitor her achievements were the most remarkable let alone the backstory to her movement.

It was going to take a while before anyone else would take the baton from her who had run the race for fifteen years and was still running.

"... Miss Iris Jules Shawn!!!" the orator yelled and as usual it was followed by an uproar of praises.

Her mother wore the brightest smile and slightly tussled her head to rearrange her bangs and rolls, squared her shoulders and began the walk down the aisle to the podium.

The thunderous applause kept resounding including that of her daughter, Louisa was very proud of her mother's growth after so many years especially how she channeled her energy for the better good of the society.

There were very few who were able to do that, and that was what she kept fighting for that always placed her at the top of the relevance table.

The moment she was on the stage it was their cue to pause their excitement for the meantime to permit her deliver her speech.

"It is indeed an honor to be on this stage once again, representing a culture that matters the most to me... but tonight we are not celebrating me, we are celebrating thousands of victims we have been able to deliver from the shadow they had created for themselves in the past years, we are representing the women who had been manipulated by their own emotions that had been brought to the light, we are standing here for those whose heart weren't strong enough to fight for themselves." She started and everyone listened intently while Louisa recorded on her phone.

The cameras from the paparazzi clicked ever so frequently that it was a wonder how the lights weren't blinding to Miss. Iris's eyes on the stage, perhaps it was all because she was already used to it.

Years in front of the media is really a force to reckon with.

"Being a victim of all forms of abuse and the aftermath trauma, I can only say you would never know how it is to fit in their shoes unless the shoe becomes yours. If I hadn't gotten help, I may have still been in my black hole and that is why I fight to be the help to those who do not realize they need it and those who desperately seek for it. Being rewarded for it is an extra push to my motivational cart and I pray that this cause would grow in strength and in valor. Thank you once again, I love you all."

The applause continued again and then songs began blasting through the speakers, indicating the event had been called to an end by the award.

Her mother walked down the stage and began heading straight for the back door with security officials walking hastily to guard her back as she left the hall followed by the media crew for various series of interviews.